Last Update: June 30, 2023, 02:38 AM IST
New York, United States (USA)
A keyboard and a shopping cart are seen in front of the Shein logo displayed in this illustration photo taken on October 13, 2020. (Reuters file photo)
The stock market debut could make Sheen the most valuable Chinese company to go public in the United States after ride-hailing giant Didi
Shein, the Chinese online fashion retailer worth more than $60 billion that is under scrutiny from US lawmakers over its labor practices, has registered with regulators for an initial public offering in New York, people familiar with the matter said.
Shein could become the most valuable Chinese company to go public in the United States by its stock market debut, as ride-hailing giant Didi Global listed in New York in 2021 at a valuation of $68 billion.
Didi was ousted from New York a year later amid Beijing’s crackdown on Chinese tech giants over antitrust and data protection rules.
The sources said Sheen has secretly submitted its IPO registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Sources said that the launch in the stock market could happen before the end of 2023.
The sources requested anonymity as the matter is confidential.
A spokesperson for Sheen said by email that the company “denies these rumors.” The spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for more information. The SEC declined to comment.
While pushing for her IPO plans, Shein faces rising tensions between the United States and China over trade, sensitive technology, human rights and Taiwan’s future.
Its IPO has been opposed by a bipartisan group of two dozen US representatives, who have asked the SEC to verify that the company does not use force labor before allowing it to proceed with a New York listing.
Sheen has said it adheres to ethical sourcing standards and has denied allegations that it ships from China’s Xinjiang region, where materials such as cotton are often the product of forced labor by Uighurs, who are predominantly Muslim. are ethnic minorities. It is for this reason that the United States has banned exports from Xinjiang.
US lawmakers are also seeking to restrict “de minimis” tariff exemptions widely used by e-commerce retailers like Shein to ship orders from China to the United States. A federal brief in April accused Sheen of taking advantage of exemptions to avoid duties and imports. Illegally manufactured goods.
A $2 billion private fundraising round in March valued Sheen at more than $60 billion. General Atlantic, Mubadala, Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital China are among its investors.
Sheen has been eyeing a US IPO for at least three years, but was hampered by adverse circumstances, including a US investigation into Chinese accounting practices and the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine. There was volatility in the market.
Company founder Chris Xu more than a year ago moved the company’s headquarters from Nanjing, the capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province, to Singapore, a move that helped Xin avoid China’s tough new rules on overseas listings. does.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – reuters,
